Algae-based microrobots able to clean up plastic waste

Swarms of iron-clad algae have been built to sweep through bodies of water to collect elusive bits of micro- and nanoplastics. Meet the Microrobots!

Imagine you are but a piece of plastic, adrift in an endless ocean — a mere remnant of a once larger structure, the origin of which you do not recall. You are the product of many, many years of natural erosion, and yet you, invisible to the human eye, persist.

Moved by the ocean’s whims, your fate is likely to be consumed by whichever organism stumbles upon you first. But suddenly, a shadow looms overhead, and much to your disbelief, it is no fish or squid, but a green sphere covered in bits of black iron, moving towards you at unnatural speeds. You feel yourself being pulled towards it, and as you approach, you realize it’s also covered in many others like you.

Albeit a dramatic representation for effect, it hints at a remarkable development made possible by a team of researchers at the Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC) at Brno University of Technology.

By decorating green algae cells with ever so tiny particles of black iron oxide — also known as magnetite — the team created magnetic algae robots that can be controlled from a distance to sift the most elusive of plastics from the waters.

A mess to clean up

Let’s face it: we love plastics. They are cheap, flexible, and moldable, while also being very durable and light. This makes them extremely convenient materials for endless applications, and thus, their current widespread use.

However, these very advantages are also highly detrimental from an ecological perspective. Their rising levels of production, combined with their characteristic resistance to natural degradation, have led to huge quantities of plastic waste that will stay in the environment for anywhere between a few decades to several centuries.

Throughout this entire time, plastics in aquatic environments will break down into minute fragments that are categorized into microplastics (smaller than 5 mm) and nanoplastics (smaller than 1000 nm). These fragments are then ingested by fish and other aquatic organisms, causing physical harm, problems in digestion and reproduction, and potentially death.

They can also collect other pollutants present in the water, such as heavy metals and organic contaminants. These plastics and the contaminants they carry are transferred up the food chain, and scientists are still beginning to study what effects, if any, this might have on humans in the long run.

To try and clean this mess and mitigate the persistence of micro- and nanoplastics in the environment, researchers have been developing all sorts of solutions. Unfortunately, these generally suffer from being too complex or expensive to carry out, or simply weren’t efficient enough.

This is where the robots come in.

Magnetic algae robots

To better target these tiny plastics, a team of researchers at CEITEC came up with the idea of creating equally tiny janitors that they could control. These tiny robots are not like the conventional mechanical machines we’re used to but are themselves micro/nano-sized particles made up of a combination of various functional materials.

“I was thinking I could find one cheap and mass-producible material to replace expensive metals,” said Xia Peng, a researcher and Ph.D. student at CEITEC, and primary author of the current study published in the Advanced Functional Materials journal. “Then algae cells just came to my mind.”

Dubbing them “magnetic algae robots” or MARs, Xia and her team decorated cells of Chlorella vulgaris (a species of green microalgae) with eco-friendly magnetite nanoparticles, which enable the MARs to be manipulated using an external magnetic field. These algae are not only biodegradable, but they are also easy and cheap to mass produce.

Another advantage is that their surface is riddled with chemical groups called carboxylic acids, which carry a negative electrostatic charge. “The surface charge of MARs is negative due to the presence of [carboxylic acid] groups, while the surface charge of the micro/nanoplastics selected is positive, which promotes the electrostatic attraction of targeted micro/nanoplastics, allowing for their capture and removal,” explained Xia.

The negatively charged algae attract positively charged micro/nanoplastics and keep them “glued” to themselves. This is also how the magnetite nanoparticles, which are positively charged, can be attached to the surface of the algae cells for remote magnetic control without requiring any complex processing.

Initial tests

For their tests, the team used a positively charged fluorescent variant of the ubiquitous plastic polystyrene, whose size varied from 2 μm to 50 nm. This fluorescent form glows under specific experimental conditions and enables the team to measure the quantity of plastic removed from water samples by the MARs, including deionized, tap, rain, and lake water.

They added MARs to these contaminated water samples, sent them on predefined trajectories under magnetic guidance — picking up the polystyrene in their path — and then examined the treated samples by comparing their levels of fluorescence intensity before and after the treatment.

“The most significant findings,” declared Xia, “were the successful capture of micro/nanoplastics […] with high removal efficiency for both nanoplastics (92%) and microplastics (70%).”

Not only that, but MARs could be recycled for further use by washing off the captured plastics. Small amounts of their magnetite coating were also washed away, but they still preserved around 80% efficiency for capturing nanoplastics and 54% for microplastics even after five cycles of washing, after which they could simply don a fresh coat of magnetite and be back to full potency.

“MARs could potentially be tested in salt water since their magnetically driven movement is not affected by salinity,” mentioned Xia. “However, the study is still in the initial stage.

“It’s important to further study the biodegradability and potential long-term environmental effects of these nanoparticles to ensure they do not lead to toxicity issues.” But things seem promising on that front.

“Generally, iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles are considered biocompatible and have been already employed in various environmental and biomedical applications,” said Xia. “In addition, in our case, the nanoparticles can be easily collected by a permanent magnet at the end of the process, ensuring that no particles are left to contaminate the water.”

Further development

Not all plastics polluting our waters are positively charged, though. Many are negatively charged under normal aquatic conditions, meaning MARs wouldn’t be able to capture them through their current built-in electrostatic interactions.

“Our system on the initial experimental stage is kind of limited because MARs only could capture positively charged plastics,” said Xia. “In the future, I also would like to develop a system that can capture negatively charged micro/nanoplastics. But now, I need time to think about it.

“I think the utilization of natural sources, like algae cells, to accomplish specific tasks is highly promising. I believe if developed enough, MARs would be sufficient to deal with the recovery of micro/nanoplastics.

“It’s possible they could complement other methods rather than entirely replace them. This may include their combination with other functional nanoparticles, which can allow MARs to perform other tasks.”

Reference: Martin Pumera, et al., Biohybrid Magnetically Driven Microrobots for Sustainable Removal of Micro/Nanoplastics from the Aquatic Environment, Advanced Functional Materials (2023). DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202307477

Feature image: Algae-based microrobots under fluorescence. Credit: Xia Peng, et al.

Story 1st appeared on www.advancedsciencenews.com by Diogo Pinheiro | Oct 26, 2023

IoT: Pioneering the Future of Aquatic Conservation in Partnership with Deutsche Telekom [Video]

VIDEO LINK> Explore the synergy between RanMarine and Deutsche Telekom IoT in our exclusive insight into the collaborative efforts reshaping the future of aquatic conservation. Discover how this innovative partnership merges RanMarine’s cutting-edge autonomous aquatic drones with Deutsche Telekom’s advanced technology solutions. Gain a behind-the-scenes look at the impactful initiatives driving sustainable change, tackling global water pollution, and preserving aquatic ecosystems. Join us in unveiling the transformative power of technology and environmental stewardship as we dive into the dialogue between two visionary forces shaping a cleaner, healthier world.

Marine bacteria bite into plastic pollution

24 October 2023
Researchers at Hokkaido University, working with colleagues at the Mitsubishi Chemical Group in Japan claim to have determined Bacteria found in the sea can degrade plastics that would otherwise resist microbial breakdown in marine environments.

A Trash-Eating Sea Monster Appears in the Hudson!

A team of scientists and environmentalists tests out the WasteShark, an unmanned watercraft that vacuums up soda cans and potato-chip bags.

WasteShark is not a shark. It is an unmanned watercraft that its creators named for a shark, owing to similarities between how WasteShark collects its prey and the feeding habits of the Rhincodon typus, or whale shark. Cruising slowly, the whale shark takes in water and filters it for plankton and krill; WasteShark, meanwhile, filters urban waters for trash. But, whereas the whale shark can grow to the length of a subway car, WasteShark is only five feet long, three and a half feet wide, and a foot and a half thick. As the bright-orange fibreglass craft floated on the Hudson River recently, off Pier 40—collecting trash at or near the surface in its wire-basket-like interior—it looked less like a fish than like something accidentally dropped from a cruise liner. “I thought it was somebody’s luggage,” a member of the Village Community Boathouse said, after WasteShark whisked past.

When full, WasteShark’s hold is emptied by its minders—in this case, Carrie Roble, a scientist who is in charge of research and education at Hudson River Park, and Siddhartha Hayes, who oversees the park’s environmental monitoring. Hayes grew up jumping into swimming holes in the Catskills, while Roble swam in metropolitan Detroit, affording her insight into a still widely held view of urban rivers. “I used to swim in the Detroit River, and people would see me and say, ‘I can’t wait to see your third arm,’ ” she said.

WasteShark, which costs twenty thousand dollars, is joining the park’s scientific team more as mascot than as player. Roble hopes that it will generate interest among passersby and among “field assistants” (interns), who will pilot the trash-eating drone this summer. “We see WasteShark as a tool,” she said.

WasteShark’s latest test run in the Hudson happened to take place on the very day that forest fires in Quebec turned New York into a Mars-scape, adding a sense of urgency to WasteShark’s mission. As Roble and Hayes wheeled it out on a dolly from Pier 40’s Wetlab, the park’s aquarium and field station, they donned N95 masks and life jackets, and were joined by two interns: Vivian Chavez, a student at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, and Stefan Valdez, from Lehman College, in the Bronx.

They lugged WasteShark down a gangway to a dock floating in a cove bounded by Pier 40 and the pier leading to the Holland Tunnel ventilation shaft—discharging carbon monoxide and pulling in what was passing that day for fresh air. A wake caused by a ferry buffeted the dock, sending an observer to his knees. Hayes knelt by WasteShark, touching its stern. “O.K., so these are the thrusters,” he said, pressing the start button. “I’m holding it until it’s blue.”

Roble detailed WasteShark’s features—a camera, sensors for measuring depth and temperature—while managing expectations. In 2020, Roble and Hayes published, in the Marine Pollution Bulletin, a comprehensive analysis of the lower Hudson estuary’s high levels of microplastics, against which WasteShark is powerless. WasteShark is the robotic assistant to a volunteer shoreline trash pickup. “For that plastic water bottle that is just out of reach,” Roble explained.

They lowered WasteShark off the edge and, with a handheld controller, turned on the thrusters, which propelled the craft quietly. Chavez took the controls. “It kind of feels like you’re walking your pet,” Roble told her, “ ’cause we end up following it along.”

As the skies darkened, Chavez smiled and set a course for some rejectamenta. Roble mused about potential attachments, including one that resembles an Arctic fox, to deter congregating Canada geese, which are a threat to passenger jets. “Or maybe googly eyes,” she said.

Chavez attributed her immediate proficiency to her gaming skills, recently honed via the latest Legend of Zelda game, Tears of the Kingdom. She handed the controller to Valdez, who steered WasteShark toward the West Street shore. “I think it handles well,” he said.

“They are the guinea pigs, and they are basically loving it,” Roble said, pleased.

A waft of trash came up from under the pier, and a gaggle of high schoolers walked out onto the pier to take pictures of the orange sky. “It’s the end of the world,” one of them shouted—then he spotted WasteShark. “Wait, are you guys monitoring something?”

After an hour, WasteShark was heaved onto the dock, and Roble and Hayes, wearing surgical gloves, picked through its haul: a baseball, bits of wood, a Diet Coke can, a water chestnut, a cigar wrapper, a toy-A.T.V. part (“Always a lot of toys,” Roble said), an amphipod, a glop of gray mush not immediately identifiable, a bag of Utz barbecue-flavored Ripples, bladder wrack, seaweed (“Good adaptation,” Hayes said), a Canada-goose gosling (deceased), a coffee-cup lid, and an Amazon bag.

By Robert Sullivan July 24, 2023 See article on link

Ocean plastic pollution threatens marine extinction says new study

Ocean plastic pollution is set to grow fourfold by 2050, says a new report.
And there may be 50 times more microplastics in the sea by 2100.
Plastic pollution is pushing some species to the brink of extinction.
But technological innovation and combined global action can help avert disaster.

The level of microplastics in our oceans is set to grow 50 fold by the end of the century raising the risk of widespread extinction of marine life in the most polluted areas, according to a new report.

Analysis for the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) found that an ocean area more than two and a half times the area of Greenland could exceed ecologically dangerous concentrations of microplastics by 2100.

“Plastic pollution is now found everywhere in the ocean, and almost every marine species is likely to have encountered it”, says WWF, adding that a total of 2,141 species have so far been found to encounter plastic pollution in their natural environments.

The report states that some marine environments – including pollution hotspots like the Mediterranean, the East China and Yellow Seas and the Arctic sea ice – have already exceeded a safe level of plastic pollution.

Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) with a plastic bag, Moore Reef, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The bag was removed by the photographer before the turtle had a chance to eat it. — More than half of all sea turtles have ingested plastic.

Image: WWF

By 2050, the report predicts the total amount of plastic in the oceans will have quadrupled.

Already 88% of marine species studied have been negatively impacted by plastic pollution and it is estimated that up to 90% of seabirds and 52% of sea turtles ingest plastic.

Extinction threat

“For already threatened species, some of which live in such hotspots, such as monk seals or sperm whales in the Mediterranean, plastic pollution is an additional stress factor pushing these populations towards extinction”, says WWF.

The root systems of Mangroves, which provide coastal protection and act as nurseries for many marine species, suffer among the highest density of plastic pollution in the sea. Plastic is also playing a part in the destruction of coral reefs.

The report’s findings are based on a review of 2,592 studies by scientists at the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research in Germany, and WWF. They conclude that humans are also at risk from eating seafood polluted with microplastics.

What is the World Economic Forum doing about plastic pollution?

More than 90% of plastic is never recycled, and a whopping 8 million metric tons of plastic waste are dumped into the oceans annually. At this rate, there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans by 2050.

The Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) is a collaboration between businesses, international donors, national and local governments, community groups and world-class experts seeking meaningful actions to beat plastic pollution.

In Ghana, for example, GPAP is working with technology giant SAP to create a group of more than 2,000 waste pickers and measuring the quantities and types of plastic that they collect. This data is then analysed alongside the prices that are paid throughout the value chain by buyers in Ghana and internationally.

It aims to show how businesses, communities and governments can redesign the global “take-make-dispose” economy as a circular one in which products and materials are redesigned, recovered and reused to reduce environmental impacts.

Innovative solutions to tackle plastic pollution

The United Nations Environment Assembly is due to meet in Nairobi, Kenya at the end of February and WWF says pressure is mounting on nations to agree a treaty to reduce the production and use of plastics worldwide.

“We know how to stop plastic pollution and we know the cost of inaction comes at the expense of our ocean ecosystems – there is no excuse for delaying a global treaty on plastic pollution’,’ said WWF’s Llewellyn.

“The way out of our plastic crisis is for countries to agree to a globally binding treaty that addresses all stages of plastic’s lifecycle and that puts us on a pathway to ending marine plastic pollution by 2030.”

The Global Plastic Action Partnership, convened by the World Economic Forum, says eight million tonnes of plastic waste enters the ocean each year and predicts that, without urgent collective action to stop it, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050.

Five nations are currently signed up to pilot the Partnership’s national model for accelerating plastic action to reduce the use of plastic. Meanwhile, the Forum’s Uplink innovation crowdsourcing platform is running the Global Plastic Innovation Network Challenge.

Among the innovators is Australia-based gDiapers who say they have invented the world’s first fully compostable disposable nappy and Nigeria’s Waste Bazaar, which uses mobile technology to help developing nations tackle the problem of indiscriminate waste dumping.

In Lebanon, Diwama has developed artificial-intelligence-based image recognition software that identifies different types of waste to allow municipalities to separate and recycle it. Individuals can also use the software on their smartphones to sort waste into the correct bin.

The Forum’s report, The New Plastics Economy, said that without innovations like these around a third of the world’s plastic packaging will never be reused or recycled.

Read full article on World Economic Forum

A MEGA 3D-PRINTED EUROVISION TROPHY

The four-metre high 3D-printed Eurovision trophy made from recycled PET material retrieved from Rotterdam waters is a genuine eye-catcher with a sustainable green footprint. This trophy is a reflection of the city’s character, long driven by the port, innovation and collaboration.

The Rotterdam proving ground

With its rugged port buildings and superb views over the water, the Rotterdam Makers District is the ideal spot for an innovative manufacturing industry. This is where new technologies are thought out, tested and applied. An area still bristling with raw edges, offering the space for businesses and educational institutions to experiment, explore and work together on a clean and sustainable future for the port and the city.

The new technologies here are based upon digitalisation, robotics and continuous fibre additive manufacturing (CFAM), and on the application of new, sustainable energy and materials. All of this results in the Makers District being an exciting proving ground and showcase for the new economy, there for all to see.

Circular production of PET material
Young entrepreneur Wesley dos Santos is the founder of the circular water-recreation business iKapitein. Sailing on his eco-barge through the city of Rotterdam, you will become aware of the diversity that the city has to offer, ranging from historic Delfshaven to the legendary skyline. The electric eco-barge removes litter from the water as it sails along; as the vessel moves forward, its built-in litter-catching system retrieves plastic from the water. If you would prefer to be more active on the water, grab a water bike and pick litter from the water as you move about! Wesley’s mission is to see more electric boats with built-in litter-catchers and sustainable water bikes on the waters of Rotterdam. Active boating and biking, where fun, innovation, awareness and recycling come together.

The collected PET litter from Rotterdam waters is converted into printing material, which Royal 3D uses to create new products with a 3D printer. This is not just any 3D printer, it is a CFAM, purpose-built for Royal 3D by CEAD in Delft. CFAM stands for Continuous Fibre Additive Manufacturing, meaning that glass fibre is continuously added to the printing material. This produces a stronger, more rigid and consequently more sustainable end result. This material forms the basis of the giant Eurovision trophy and is fully recyclable, even if a print should go wrong.

The future of the trophy
The giant trophy will be put up for auction after the Eurovision Song Contest and the proceeds will go to the Dutch company RanMarine, a Rotterdam-based business born out of a desire to improve the welfare of our world’s oceans and waterways.

Their water-cleaning WasteShark can play a significant role in helping to address the scourge of plastics, associated waste and biomass when deployed in appropriate environments. They have been specifically designed for use within ports, harbours, marinas and inland waterways.

They focus on helping to clear plastics and associated trash from waterways before they enter the ocean where their containment and collection becomes far more challenging and costly.

Read more on Rotterdam Make it Happen, visit their website

These are the Top Environmental Engineering Startups in The Netherlands (2021)

This article showcases our top picks for the best The Netherlands based Environmental Engineering startups. These startups and companies are taking a variety of approaches to innovating the Environmental Engineering industry, but are all exceptional companies well worth a follow.

We tried to pick companies across the size spectrum from cutting edge startups to established brands.

We selected these startups and companies for exceptional performance in one of these categories:

Innovation
- Innovative ideas
- Innovative route to market
- Innovative product
Growth
- Exceptional growth
- Exceptional growth strategy
Management
Societal impact

RanMarine USA

RanMarine USA has merged US operations with the global operations of RanMarine Technology B.V., developer of the WasteShark technology and based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The WasteShark is a data-driven, autonomous aqua-drone that cleans marine waste, while collecting critical water quality data from local water sources.

The WasteShark is a unique smart city solution which is financially feasible for communities of all sizes and delivers quantifiable results day one. Waste and Pollution Removal – efficiently and effectively removes over 1000+ pounds of marine waste and pollution per day.

Water Quality Safety – collects and analyzes real-time data about water quality to assist with compliance with pollution regulations and identify potential contaminants early to minimize impact on the aquatic ecosystem, environment, and constituents. Biomass Removal – removes biomass (e.g., hyacinths, duckweed, algae) at the surface, which helps maintain aquatic ecosystems and mitigates potential damage to water equipment and facilities.

Oil Waste Collection – designed to operate in confined areas around boats, ships, docks and slips. The WasteShark can be fitted with a special drum oil skimmer for spill collection, and high-quality crude and refined oil sensors can be added for water quality data collection and hydrocarbon detection..

Read full article by The Startup Pill

Looking to Nature’s Designs to Solve Human Made Problems

When a genius and an icon like Leonardo da Vinci looks to nature for inspiration in his designs and inventions, art and creativity, how could the rest of us even think about ignoring this wondrous three-billion-year history of evolution?

In his day, when Leonardo was roaming the countryside, strolling through the streets of Florence, or counting the branches on a tree, he embodied an intense curiosity about the natural world around him. It was a deeply embedded curiosita. Today we call it biomimicry.

Velcro is a much cited example of biomimicry (inspired by burdock burrs stuck in a dog’s fur), as is the flipper (inspired by ducks and their webbed feet), the submarine (whales), and Japan’s famous bullet train (the kingfisher). But none of these solutions actually do our environment any good.

Because when people look to nature to solve problems, shouldn’t nature herself benefit too?

We should all know by now that nature is in crisis. We’re facing food and water insecurity, melting ice caps, global warming from fossil fuels, deforestation, biodiversity loss, air pollution, and of course, plastic pollution. And that’s not even all of it.

But let’s look beyond the crisis of nature for a moment, and look to nature herself for the inspiration we need to solve the mess we’ve collectively made. As lovers of the ocean, we can’t help but dive under the waters for a closer peek at the plethora of magnificent creatures that live there as an example of extraordinary design.

The electric eel, for example, can produce enough electricity to light up to 10 light bulbs. Sea cucumbers clean the ocean (they eat anything that sticks to sand, take in the food, and then excrete the sand again, all nice and clean). Feather stars are almost walking plants that wave their ‘feathers’ around to move underwater. The blue dragon is a sea slug that floats upside down on the ocean waves. And basket stars, close relatives of starfish, use their many arms to create an intricate web to trap their prey.

And then of course, there’s the incredible fact that 76% of ocean creatures produce their own light. And still, we only know a tiny fraction of our ocean’s various species. New marine life is being discovered every day. How could we not be inspired to a da Vinci level of curiosity?

Biologist Frank Fish from West Chester University in Pennsylvania wins in biomimicry and sustainability for how he’s changing the way engineers think about aerodynamic design and inspiring the redesign of wind turbine blades that produce more energy more efficiently. And all this because Fish was captured by the unique design of humpback whales and their flipper bumps.

For EcoStp, their inspiration for zero power, zero chemicals, sewage treatment technology came from a cow’s own internal process. Nature’s genius empowered them to create a regenerative innovation that utilises the functional principles and strategies of microorganisms and the ecosystem found in a cow’s stomach. EcoStp’s patented technology treats sewage in a decentralised, self-sustainable way, without power, chemicals, or human intervention.

RanMarine’s waste-devouring WasteShark was inspired by the gentle and majestic giant of the ocean, the whale shark. A filter feeder, the whale shark swims with its mouth wide open, scooping up plankton and small fish as it moves slowly forward. And now its drone twin, the WasteShark, is also in our waters with its own wide-open mouth and voluminous belly, but its scooping up plastic pollution instead.

Richard Hardiman, CEO of RanMarine Technology, says it started at the V&A Harbour in Cape Town. Watching two people in a boat trying to battle plastic waste with nothing more than a pool net, he was struck by the futility of their efforts. Battling both tide and people’s inability to clean up after themselves.

‘When I later discovered this was standard practice in harbours all over the globe … and when I realised just how dire the marine plastic pollution crisis really is, I just knew I had to do better than that. We had to do better than that.’

The result is an autonomous aqua-drone that can collect up to 500kg of waste per day with a zero carbon footprint. It also harvests vital data about the health of the water. In fact, over 200 environmental sensors can be fitted onto one WasteShark, continuously reporting on vital facts to help us keep our waters healthy and protect the creatures living in it.

It’s a no brainer, when nature is our mentor, when nature is our inspiration, when we are truly connected, the sustainable solutions can be limitless.

Top 5 sustainability pioneers in Europe

The events of the past year have put many things in perspective – and have served to highlight the urgency of the climate crisis. Sustainable start-ups are attracting increased interest from ethically-motivated consumers, as the world looks towards a greener post-pandemic future.

The pandemic has prompted us to reconsider many aspects of our lives, from our working habits to how and where we spend our money. It has also served to heighten our awareness of environmental issues, as we begin to think of the world we would like to see post-pandemic. According to a survey by management consultancy company Accenture, 60 percent of consumers say that they have started making more environmentally friendly, sustainable or ethical purchases since the onset of the pandemic in 2020.

In the business world, too, sustainability has become a top priority over the course of the past year, with major firms such as Unilever and Google announcing significant green pledges over the course of 2020. Even amid the COVID-19 crunch, venture capital firms have been pouring money into sustainable, purpose-driven start-ups, suggesting that eco-friendly products and services may well be a key area of growth in the post-pandemic world. With that in mind, let’s take a look at five of Europe’s top sustainability pioneers.

1 – Oatly (Sweden)
The non-dairy milk market has been booming in recent years, and is predicted to reach revenues of over $38bn by 2024. This is good news indeed for Swedish oat milk-manufacturer Oatly, which has seen its sales soar as ethically-driven consumers seek alternatives to traditional dairy products. Founded in the 1990s, the company states its aim as: “to make it easy for people to turn what they eat and drink into moments of healthy joy, without recklessly taxing the planets’ resources in the process.” Boasting partnerships with major retailers such as Starbucks, the company is undoubtedly one of the most prominent names in the plant-based industry, and is now said to be seeking a valuation of close to $10bn as it prepares to go public on the US stock exchange.

2 – EO Charging (UK)
With many of the world’s workers giving up the daily commute in order to work from home in 2020, the pandemic has encouraged a reassessment of our transport usage. While global car sales fell by around a fifth during the pandemic, sales of electric vehicles rose by a remarkable 43 percent, showing an increased appetite for eco-friendly cars. As the demand for electric vehicles grows, the need for increased EV charging infrastructure is becoming ever more apparent. Based in the UK, EO Charging is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of electric vehicle charging ports, having sold more than 30,000 charging points in over 30 countries in the five years since its launch. Working with high-profile partners such as Uber, Sainsbury’s and Ocado to facilitate a transition to EV, EO Charging was recently named among the Financial Times’ fastest growing companies in Europe.

3 – Cellugy (Denmark)
Plastic pollution is an area that has come into sharp focus over the course of the past 12 months, with discarded single-use masks becoming an all too common sight since the start of the pandemic. Based in Aarhus, Denmark, Cellugy is a pioneering biotech start-up that is committed to helping to bring an end to plastic pollution through the creation of alternative forms of packaging. Its innovative product, called EcoFLEXY, is a durable material designed for use in the packaging industry. Made from recycled food waste, the product is all-natural, fully recyclable and biodegradable. In a recent seed round, the company raised €2.38m from the European Innovation Council Accelerator, which will allow it to scale-up production of its EcoFLEXY product.

4 – RanMarine Technology (Netherlands)
An unexpected side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the unfortunate increase in marine litter pollution. Plastic gloves, single-use masks and other forms of PPE have been washing up on beaches across the globe, with this increase in plastic waste threatening the health of marine life the world over. Dutch drone technology firm RanMarine is the company behind the innovative WasteShark – a product designed to clear plastic and other waste from all manner of waterways. The device has a 10-hour ‘swimtime,’ and is able to clear 500kg of debris from the water each day – with users able to control the device remotely and monitor its progress in real time. The firm secured a Series-A investment in 2020, allowing it to scale-up its operations this year and beyond.

Read full article by World Finance article

First-Of-Its Kind Partnership to Address Plastic Pollution Crisis

RanMarine Technology and The Planet Calls are pleased to announce their newly minted strategic partnership. Combining RanMarine’s award-winning technology for cleaning the world’s waters and The Planets Calls’ unwavering mission for a greener and more sustainable planet, it’s a first-of-its kind partnership that forges a new way forward.

In a referral partner agreement, the brands have come together on a unique platform to address the alarmingly compounding issue of the plastic pollution crisis.

In some form, almost all the plastic ever created still exists today. The amount of plastic produced globally in just one year is almost the same as the entire weight of humanity. And scientists predict that by 2050, there will be more tonnes of plastic in our oceans than tonnes of fish.

There is no doubt that the call to act is urgent.

Richard Hardiman, CEO of RanMarine Technology says, ‘As a cleantech company, we are regularly introduced to people and networks who are passionate about the earth, its waters, and the need for urgent restoration; I can honestly say that few embody the same passion and vision or align with our mission so clearly as The Planet Calls; to be partnered with CEO Leslie Maliepaard and her team, to us at RanMarine, is the embodiment of what we are looking to achieve in creating stronger networks and commitments in the fight against plastic pollution.’

And in this fight against plastic pollution, RanMarine’s WasteShark drone range offers an incredibly intelligent tool for cleaning our waters.

Modelled on planet earth’s biggest fish, the whale shark, The WasteShark is the world’s first waste harvesting autonomous aqua-drone that collects marine waste, biomass, and plastic from all types of water. It can collect up to 500kg of waste per day with a zero carbon footprint.

In addition to cleaning our waters, the WasteShark can be equipped with water quality sensors to capture and report on the health of our planet’s water. RanMarine’s mission is to empower people and organisations across the planet to restore the marine environment to its natural state.

To date, Dutch-based RanMarine has introduced WasteSharks to help clean up harbour waters in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, South Africa, India, Denmark, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia.

The eco-friendly and quietly unobtrusive drone is proving most effective at waste chokeholds like harbours, rivers, and canals where it can devour plastic pollution before it spills into our oceans.

Encouraged by the immediate impact the WasteShark can have on the health of our waters, the sustainability specialists at The Planet Calls already see the synergy and distinct value this range can offer their clients.

Read the full article by The Planet Calls article

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Tag: Plastic debris